Implementing learning analytics and learning design@scale
While many “brick-and-mortar” universities had to rapidly shift online provision during the pandemic, a range of online and distance learning universities have been teaching in blended and online formats for years. The Open University UK (OU) has been trailblazing innovative learning across the globe for 50 years. Since 2014 the OU has gradually moved from small-scale experimentation to large-scale adoption of learning analytics throughout all 400+ modules and qualifications available within the OU for its 170.000+ online learners. This talk will explores two large scale implementations (i.e., Analytics4Action, learning design) as a multiple case-study to illustrate how educators and institutions might make sense of rich data coming from online learning.
In Analytics4Action team of experts work together to make sense of the rich data coming from blended and online learning, and work together with educators how to further optimise the learning design. Learning Design is a structured design, specification, and review process that helps educators to design an effective learning design. The findings indicate that active engagement by educators with learning analytics can positively improve the chances of learners to get support early, and to set them up for success. However, more needs to be done to actively support our educators to make sense of learning data. Our main lesson learned is that innovation takes substantial time to grow, develop, mature and embed into an organisation. Without clear senior management support it would be extremely difficult to reach a critical mass to implement innovations like learning analytics at scale. Evidence-based research can gradually change perspectives and narratives in an organisation, and throughout both case studies we continuously conducted scholarly research together with key stakeholders to understand what was working, and what was not. Finally, if there is one thing both case studies have in common then it is all about people.
Speaker bio:
Dr. Bart Rienties is Professor of Learning Analytics and programme lead of the learning analytics and learning design research programme at the Institute of Educational Technology at the Open University UK.
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